Many many years ago, when such a thing was possible, I was dragging my view camera (with tripod and equipment) through the narrow passageways of lower Antelope Canyon. I came around a corner and found another photographer.....also shooting with a 4x5 view camera! We compared notes and cameras and then struck up a partnership. We would find a good spot. Then while one of us set up, the other would find a spot upstream to block anyone from walking into the shot. Given the dim light, small apertures and film reciprocity issues, our exposures were running as much as a minute or two.
Today, with a digital camera, if someone were to walk into an exposure you'd simply take another shot. But with a view camera you could only carry a handful of film holders (I had 5!) so having a ruined shot was a big deal. Anyway....one of us would expose a couple of sheets and then yell 'clear!' and we would switch places. I never learned his name but it was one of the best mornings of photography I've ever had. It took me decades, but thanks to developing technologies like film scanners and imagning software, I came realize that the handful of shots I took that morning are world class images. And very difficult to reproduce in 2020 now that Antelope Canyon (upper and lower) have been discovered and are international tourist attractions.
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